Statistics

The Planned Parenthood Federation of America is signaling its intention to dominate the national sex education agenda.

Specifically, Planned Parenthood's Web site announced the group is preparing to launch a nationwide “social change initiative” to end the “stigma and shame about sex” in American culture.

The project aims to teach parents and caregivers how to educate children about sex -- from birth. And it recommends telling teenagers about masturbation, oral sex and “where to go for help to prepare to be sexually active.”

In an already volatile environment for Iraqi Christians, militants who are thought to be linked to Al-Qaeda, attacked three Christian homes Thursday night utilizing grenades and bombs, killing two people. This is already sending fear to Iraq’s Christian community that has suffered through numerous attacks and killings.

Because the cable channel's ratings now trail reruns of Gilligan's Island and hospital sonograms, no one would have known except for the heroes over at NewsBusters.

They took the bullet for the rest of us and transcribed his statements regarding the new House requirement to read the Constitution at the start of the session. Among his remarks were these timeless gems:

[The Constitution] has no binding power on anything. And two, the issue of the Constitution is not that people don’t read the text and think they’re following. The issue of the Constitution is that the text is confusing because it was written more than 100 years ago and what people believe it says differs from person to person and differs depending on what they want to get done.

If you have been reading me long, you know my favorite post to repost is the one where I quote Arthur C. Brooks, a professor at Syracuse University, who published "Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism." In this book/study, Brooks found that:

-- Although liberal families' incomes average 6 percent higher than those of conservative families, conservative-headed households give, on average, 30 percent more to charity than the average liberal-headed household

Instapundit has several great comments concerning this issue. Definitely worth a read:

COLMAN MCCARTHY: Now that Don’t-Ask-Don’t-Tell Has Been Repealed, Here’s Another Excuse For Keeping ROTC Off Campus. “ROTC and its warrior ethic taint the intellectual purity of a school.” Pathetic. What does McCarthy know about either intellectualism or purity? Not much, to judge from this column. His post-Post “academic” career is just further evidence of both a higher education bubble, and of the politicized lack of standards therein.

UPDATE: Reader Jason Johnson sends: “The state that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools.”

Society used to know this stuff* without studies. Now we need evidence of societal or personal benefits to justify what was once the cultural norm. Here's a study of couples which shows that holding off on physical intimacy correlates with a fulfilling relationship in several ways. And the longer they waited, the better. The numbers are striking:

In CBS News anchor Katie Couric’s “2010 in Review,“ the primetime news host discusses what she dubs the ”top stories” of the year, including apparent rampant Islamophobia and Americans’ “seething hatred” of Muslims. To help ease tensions, Couric suggests a “Muslim version of the ‘Cosby Show’”:

I really enjoy Dean Koontz's books and I'm always up for a new one. Here, he's interviewed by National Review about his new one. Definitely worth a listen:

"I've rejected Freud entirely...I realized many years ago that I...was writing villains out of a Freudian perspective...I looked...to see who were the greatest characters...in fiction, and they were all pre-Freudian. [T]here's [not a] whiff of Freudianism in Dickens, and...[the characters] are as alive as any you would ever...find in fiction," says Dean Koontz, author of What the Night Knows.

The nation's foremost race hustler is in the news again, agitating for more spending in the "War on Poverty". Oh, and he wants a "radical reordering" of our economy, because the Consitution is apparently an arcane relic with no particular relevance to race hustlers.

(Daily Telegraph) — AN AUTISTIC schoolboy has been granted court approval to begin treatment to become a woman — on the proviso the teenager has his sperm frozen in case he wants to have children in the future.

...At the time, I remarked to peers in medicine and to groups I was invited to address that there had to be much more to this story than meets the eye. No Catholic hospital faithful to the ERD’s ad the Magisterium, within a stone’s throw of several other hospitals, makes such a decision, especially without consulting the local bishop. I opined, and was pilloried for it, that Sister McBride was presiding over a shadow healthcare system that was active in promoting an agenda that ran counter to the mission of the Church. Nobody commits first-degree murder as a first crime. No Catholic hospital administrator, especially a professed religious, signs off on such an abortion for the first time in the manner in which Sister McBride conducted herself.

There was an arrogance, an independent and defiant air about it that pointed to something deeper and darker, something that would eventually come to light....

There is a tendency to think of all pro-lifers as raving preachers or colorless nuns. They may, in fact, be very reasonable preachers or very colorful nuns. But the anti-abortion movement is populated by a cast of characters more varied and colorful than many people can imagine. They might be considered strange bedfellows, but their commitment to the pro-life cause is real.

To understand why liberals have lost the presumption of decency in Americans -- after all, they're constantly calling us racists, bigots, homophobes, xenophobes, religious clingers, and stupid -- you need look no farther than the American Psychological Association (APA). For the last sixty years, the APA has been cooking up an atheist/humanist vision that contradicts traditional American faith and values -- and using the banner of science to do it.

My grandmother is the youngest of 5 siblings born between 1910 and 1922. The brothers and sisters have all lived in the same small city for most of their lives and have been best friends for 60+ years. Genealogy has been a hobby of many an ancestor so we were all steeped in family lore and family charts dating back to the first family member to step foot in Virginia around 1632. Every Christmas season for 35 years the clan has hosted traditions such as decorating graves at the cemetery, taking bags of gifts to each other's homes in a sort of moving open house party and culminating with a party at noon on Christmas Day. I have group family photos of every Christmas since I was 8 and it is amusing to see various hair and fashion styles as well as remember great aunties and uncles who have passed away.

California's colonization by illegal aliens with a well-known penchant for driving drunk may put an end to the inconvenience of DUI checkpoints, which moonbat activists deem to be racist:

Two local advocate groups for undocumented immigrants have publicly accused the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sherriff's Department of using DUI checkpoints to legally seize thousands of cars.

In a change to former practice, those distributing Holy Communion at the Holy Father’s Mass tonight were told that ‘at all Papal Masses Communion is to be given only on the tongue.’ The usual statement that Prelates receive in the same way as the Laity remained. Thought you might be interested.

It almost seems to be an unspoken rule that Christians, and Catholics in particular, are not supposed to respond to criticism, insults, and slights towards their faith with anything more than a smile. Certainly we shouldn’t actually say anything. For some reason, this is not expected of our other religious neighbors – Jews and Muslims – or of any other group, such as blacks or gays.

Ho, ho, ho! Just in time for Christmas, the American Civil Liberties Union has launched a new salvo against people of faith. Even as billions around the world celebrate the birth of Christ, joyless, abortion-obsessed secularists never take a holiday.

On Wednesday, the ACLU sent a letter to federal health officials urging the government to force Catholic hospitals in the U.S. to perform abortions in violation of their core moral commitment to protecting the lives of the unborn.

(CNN) — An atheist billboard on the New Jersey side of the Lincoln Tunnel that declared Christmas a “myth” has been replaced by a pro-Christian billboard. The old billboard, put up in late November by the American Atheists organization, said “You know it’s a myth. This season, celebrate reason.”

Actor James Caviezel, who played Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson’s “Passion of the Christ,” said in a recent interview in Spain that he regards abortion as “the greatest moral defect of the western world.”

Caviezel was in the country to promote his latest movie “The Stoning of Soraya M.,” which has just been released there. He was asked by the publication Sembrar, “in your judgment, what is the greatest moral defect of the western world?”

I’ve been reading books about mountain climbing lately. (As a lazy homebody, I’m fascinated by people who like to leave the house and be cold and climb things.) In a memoir about a Himalayan climb, one author wrote a stirring description of his trip into a Buddhist monastery at the base of a mountain. This author had a mild anti-religious streak, so I took notice when he expressed awe and reverence upon witnessing their blessing ritual.

It reminded me of the way my friends and I used to view some foreign belief systems when I was younger. Even though I was an atheist, I had a kind of respect for certain Eastern religions, especially Buddhism. If I had ended up in a remote candlelit monastery with Buddhist monks, I’m sure I too would have been astonished by it all. In fact, when I think about it, I probably would have been even more astonished in such a situation than I am with my own Christian faith on any given day.

I know I shouldn't care about these kinds of things but I do. A little. It just irks me:

Reality isn't always very fun, granted. Because of that many people turn to comic books for a little escapism. But there's escapism and PC indoctrination. Sadly, it appears that DC Comic's Batman is angling for the latter and not the former. You see, Batman has decided to hire a Muslim to "save France."

On a recent episode of Conan O’Brien’s late night show, he told the viewers he has an exclusive video of an updated version of the Christmas classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” This updated version has a twist, starring Governor Sarah Palin.

ABC's Dan Harris gave a slanted report on Wednesday's GMA about the Catholic bishop of Phoenix, Arizona stripping a hospital there of its Catholic status: "This is a story that involves a nun, described as saintly; a Catholic bishop; a world-class hospital; and a controversy now being discussed across the country." Harris unnecessarily introduced the priestly sex scandal into his report, and played a sound bite from a doctor who thought religion should be kept out of medical decisions involving crisis pregnancies.

As the nation continued to struggle in the recession in 2009, the rate at which U.S. women are having babies continued to fall, pushing the teen birth rate to a record low, federal officials reported Tuesday. . . .

The overall drop pushed the fertility rate to about 2.01, a 4 percent drop from 2008. That is the largest decline since 1973 and put the total fertility rate below the level needed to sustain the size of the population for the second year after being above the replacement rate in 2006 and 2007 for the first time in 35 years.

Few people in the sporting world have brought me more pain than Phil Jackson. I was too young to enjoy him as a player for the Knicks when they won the NBA championship but I remember too well every playoff loss at the hands of his Chicago Bulls. But this story makes me despise him a little bit less. A little. The Blaze has the story:

Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson is arguably one of the greatest coaches in NBA history. He’s also, apparently, one of league’s most ardent defenders of Christmas.

In an interview with ESPNLosAngeles.com, Jackson had some sharp criticism for the NBA and its increasing practice of scheduling games on the sacred holiday.

Dominic joined dozens of children yesterday at the annual Toy Gun Bash in the gymnasium of Pleasant View Elementary School. There, they lined up to toss their toy guns, from dainty purple water guns to camouflage-painted pistols, inside the Bash-O-Matic, a large black, foam creature with churning metal teeth and the shape of a cockroach spliced with a frog.

Prodded by Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, who wore a fuzzy Santa hat, the children stared curiously as the Bash-O-Matic mashed up their guns and digested them into a plastic bin near its tail. . . . Some children were not thrilled with the trade.

And now we will get to watch the CINOs go bananas. Who will be the first to throw a nutty tantrum about the nerve of that bishop in some fly-over state to undermine health care for the poor, to continue the patriarchal oppression of women?

This has got some bad language but I found it hilarious. Maybe because I think that former congresspunk Driehaus who is suing the SBA List is out of his mind.

Faithful readers of TAC will recall that Steve Driehaus is the Democrat Congressman of Ohio 1. (Soon to be former Congressman since he had his walking papers given to him by the voters of the District on election day. ) Prior to the election Driehaus sued the Susan B. Anthony list over this ad:

I wonder if the demographic shift towards red states has anything to do with abortion rates. Troglopundit writes:

Still the result of liberal policies, though. The New York Times:

Power in Congress Will Tilt South and West

WASHINGTON — The Census Bureau rearranged the country’s political map on Tuesday, giving more Congressional seats to the South and the West, and taking away from the Northeast and the Midwest, in largely anticipated changes that will have far reaching implications for political life cycles over the next decade.

Indiana Representative Mike Pence is such an impressive conservative, and his latest push can bring social and fiscal conservatives together.

Pence is calling for a cut to funds of Planned Parenthood. While our economy is suffering through a calamitous run, it’s blatantly unfair for the American people to bankroll an organization with millions of dollars to fund the killing of the unborn.

Liberals blame Bush era policies for the economic mess we're in right now, as well as a raft of other problems. Conservatives (rightly) blame the economic mess on Democrat policies, and highlight the problems caused by other legislation, such as ObamaCare and the Porkulus. Altogether, though, notice that government tends to create more problems while supposedly solving others. Enter the FCC

The year now ending has been one of immense alarm followed by serenity’s sudden rushes to the head. It is hard now to remember the hysteria generated by the tawdry and often appalling scandal of clerical abuse of young men in the Roman Catholic Church, between February and July. The New York Times appeared to be offering free visits to New York with city tours of all boroughs, capped by five-course dinners in five-star restaurants, for anyone who could recall an indiscreet clerical hand on the knee from decades before. I repeat it is a grievous problem and there were many disgusting and shameful incidents, compounded by excessive episcopal indulgence in many cases. These facts do not alter or diminish the fidelity, dedication, and self-discipline of the 99 percent of Roman Catholic religious personnel who have served through living memory throughout the world with unblemished devotion, nor blight the education and care they gave to an approximately equal percentage of the scores of millions of children confided to them.

Now that the lame duck Democratic Congress has repealed Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT), the new Congress will have to see to it that the Obama administration manages the implementation of repeal responsibly, and that the concerns of military leaders and troops are taken seriously. But over the next two years Congress can do something else. It can take an interest in ensuring that discrimination against ROTC on college campuses ends.

This blog is many things; sometimes political, sometimes silly, sometimes serious. Today, it is urgent.

A friend of mine has a daughter. She is my daughter's first and to this date, still best friend despite having moved to Texas. Zoe has a rare condition that is called Ondine's Curse; her autonomic functions stop if she loses consciousness. Thus, to make it to the age of 10 alive, she's had to be put on a respirator every night, has pacers and has had more tests and hospital stays than can possibly be counted. Right now, she's having a bad spell of days and nights, where she is on and off oxygen and the machines are a companion that is not leaving. People with this condition sometimes have spells where it is better or worse as they age and develop and the demands on their bodies change. This is a type of growing pain that none of us ever hope to experience. There simply isn't enough known about this condition because so few have it and survival is so precarious.

I am a big supporter of repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT). Unfortunately, the policy the Senate repealed on Saturday wasn’t the policy I wanted to see repealed.

To be sure, DADT as applied to gays in the military was eventually going to be repealed, even if it was a prudent attempt to prevent relationships within a unit that could endanger lives. I’ll let the military people decide about that. But we should understand what DADT really banned: it banned gays from openly discussing their homosexuality in the military.

So now that homosexuals have won the right to discuss their homosexuality, I wonder if they will be willing to repeal the social policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” that is currently applied to Christians who want to discuss their Christianity.

This is not something I usually get all political or righteous about. I understand that many devout people hold different opinions on this topic and that “good” Catholics are free to receive on the hand or on the tongue. For me, though, receiving on the tongue has always felt like the most appropriate way to recognize and respect Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist.

Instapundit does a great job here. He not only has the story but has received a letter from people who know the professor. Great job. You should check this out:

HMM: Astronomer Sues the University of Kentucky, Claiming His Faith Cost Him a Job.

In 2007, C. Martin Gaskell, an astronomer at the University of Nebraska, was a leading candidate for a job running an observatory at the University of Kentucky. But then somebody did what one does nowadays: an Internet search. That search turned up evidence of Dr. Gaskell’s evangelical Christian faith.

The University of Kentucky hired someone else. And Dr. Gaskell sued the institution.

This guy's a loon and it kills me that he was honored at my Catholic alma mater. The Blog Prof has the story:

For years now feminists have given Chris Matthews a pass in regards to his blatant and vicious sexism toward especially attractive conservative women. The latest incident: Matthews and Guests Laugh at Michele Bachmann Being Named to House Intelligence Committee. Tell me that feminazis wouldn't be smoking mad had this not bee Chris Matthews and the subject not Michele Bachmann:

Pretty funny stuff from Right Wing News. (One or two of the pics are a little in your face)

The Obama Administration's Official Alphabet Guide for Learning Government's Role in Your Life

Hi, I'm Omar, the Obama administration's official kid's ambassador. Today I'll be guiding you through some of the many necessary regulations that government imposes on us for our protection -- and we'll learn the alphabet at the same time!

My husband and I attended the Virginia Glee Club’s annual Christmas Concert held at the Paramount. We thoroughly enjoyed this concert under the expert direction of Frank Albinder, with one exception.

The program was advertised as a Christmas concert, so we were surprised to see one of his selections, “Zikr.” This song has nothing to do with Christmas. It is a Muslim chant to their God. I think it is disingenuous to insert an Islamic chant, however good and exciting the music, which is the antithesis of Christian music.

A top ten list of liberal hoaxes and the media that loved them so much and blew them out of proportion. Newsreal blog has it:

There’s nothing the left loves more than a victim. Our entire victim-culture can be summed up into one Oprah Winfrey Show, complete with boxes of Kleenex and clichéd advice about “moving forward” and “finding one’s inner beauty.” Admittedly, it’s tempting to get sucked in. Who doesn’t feel the heart strings tighten when a true story of hardship is presented, complete with video clips of beach walking and wailing orchestral instruments? But “victims” have become entertainment that equal big ratings and instant stardom. As such, one must always be on the lookout for the big hoax.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Nicolle Wallace pontificated how Sarah Palin must not be challenged by republicans because she will be seen as a martyr.

However, she took to the English publication to slam Palin as unintelligent, uncouth, and that we should, “Let her shoot her moose or whatever the heck she does on her [television] show, it will all work out.”

I delivered a package yesterday, like so many others attempting to beat the Christmas rush. While I was there, I had supplies to get, for yet another mailing. There was a separate cashier for stamps and assorted items.

I wanted to write about this yesterday, but we had an exceptionally busy news day. The story of Fr. Greg Maturi shouldn’t be missed, however, as two murders almost on the doorstep of his St. Dominic’s Catholic Church pushed him to pursue an unusual but not unprecedented strategy to fight crime: demolition. The population of Youngstown, Ohio has dropped by almost half since the steel industry began its decline over the last few decades. That left a lot of empty, abandoned houses in the poorer areas of Youngstown, which provided a haven for almost every kind of criminal activity and gang activity one could imagine. Fr. Maturi has teamed up with Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams to remove the abandoned houses and chase the thieves, pimps, drug dealers, and murderers out of the neighborhood:

Oh snap. I thought the world was supposed to love us once we elected Obama.

L.A. TIMES: Royal snub for the Obamas: No wedding invite from Prince William and Kate Middleton. Well, they’ve already got an iPod loaded with his speeches, so there was no point inviting him just for the gift.

Many of my students, taking their final exams this week, have said goodbye with a warm "Holiday Holidays" farewell. And while that's very nice, I gave my last final this morning, and as I was handing out the exams I wished everyone "Happy Holidays," but added, "I celebrate Christmas at my house, and I'm not offended if you want to wish me a Merry Christmas."

They lied to avoid scrutiny and now it's biting them. Flopping Aces does some excellent reporting:

I originally began this post to reconcile what’s going on in the various courts INRE O’healthcare. Indeed, I will do just that, as it is all interrelated. But I first want to lead with the most surprising revelation I’ve read in the opinions and various rulings thus far on the major lawsuits that have hit the news… and that is the inadvertent confession of the lead counsel for Obama’s HHS in oral arguments during the Commonwealth of Virginia vs Sebelius process...

The decision to call the fee for noncompliance a penalty instead of a tax was a last minute deliberate swap by Congress. It had been specifically called a tax in the previous incarnations. So why the 11th hour change in terms?

In Obama’s counsel’s own words, it was so that Congressional Dems could avoid scrutiny and accountability for raising taxes.

Wisconsin RNC Chairman Reince Priebus called for the execution of Barack Obama 3 times in one conference call with the press. Then after apologizing for the gaffe he attacked a prominent democrat for being gaffe prone.

It was a typical conversation between mother and son, just a few weeks before Christmas—and it went something like this, “I’ve got the boys covered, so what do I get for little Miss Corrine?” said I. To which he replied, “Geez mom, you raised six girls, it shouldn’t be hard for you to figure out. She’s a girl. Buy her girl stuff.”

But it’s not that easy. There are all kinds of girls, which means there are lots of different flavors of “girl stuff.” Corrine is four, and has two cousins the same age. They are all girly-girls and not one of them are the same. One is getting a pink handled gun and holster—she lives with a bunch of brothers, so of course she has to be armed. Nothing thrills her more than to run with the big boys- she can usually keep up, if not best them, but she always does it in feminine style.

I met Oleo along one of my trap line trails. A fellow trapper, Oleo was way off course by about 30 miles from his own trap line. He was among the Laplanders brought over by the government for an experiment in reindeer or caribou ranching. One of the best bushmen I have ever known, it was for certain he was here for a reason and not because he was lost.

The experiment consisted of sawing off the antlers while they were in the velvet, drying them, grinding them into powder, then selling them to men in the Orient so they would have more lead in their pencils. I personally thought the idea was a little far fetched, since having a place to draw or write seemed to be more problematic than having lead when you needed it. The problem of men and their misplaced manhoods seems to be a self-inflicted malady by men with too much idle time on their hands in tandem with a poor concept of manhood itself. The experiment was a dismal failure and Oleo became a trapper.

During my appearance on The View this week, Barbara Walters asked me, "Did you ever think, 'I wish I had a career and I didn't have six kids?"

It was a provocative question, especially since baby #6 was sitting on my lap at the time. I simply responded, "Being a mom is the best job in the world!"

Politico called the answer "diplomatic," and National Review's Kathryn Lopez tweeted that it was "graceful," but I couldn't help being disappointed with my response. Not that it wasn't true -– being a mom is the best job in the world - but I felt that a question as culturally loaded as this one deserved a better answer, especially from someone who has written countless columns and an entire book on the subject of at-home motherhood and the sad fact that our culture does little to applaud or elevate this noble calling.

“I’ve got 44-year-olds who show up in my office after trying two months and say, ‘I don’t understand, my gynecologist told me I was fine,’” says [Dr. Jamie] Grifo. “Now, he didn’t say, ‘You’re going to be fertile forever.’ But they didn’t hear that part . . .

She was our speech coach when I was in high school. A sweet, grandmotherly sort, who hovered and cooed and generally let us know we were loved. We were talented. We were terrific. We deserved a Christmas party, and she threw one at her house over Christmas break every year.

She had a lovely, grandmotherly house, too. Her Christmas lighting was simple: candles in the windows. Electric candles, yes, but the effect on on me was magic. Subtle and cozy and lovely ... they beckoned. And, once inside, in the Patterson fold, she confirmed that beckoning: "When you have all graduated, and gone off to college, you can always come back to visit me. If you drive by my house when you're home for Christmas, I hope you'll stop and see me. As long as the candles are in the window, I'll be here."

This gets points for being the most out of left field blog post of the day from Fr. Z:

I know that some people out there, in the real world or the blogosphere… certainly no one here… writes as if she had magisterial authority. She may consider herself to have the same authority as, say, popes or bishops. You know about the Magisterium of Nuns, of course.

You see, they did a bad thing to make something good happen. See? It's that simple. Catholic Culture has the story:

Despite the threat of the imminent revocation of its status as a Catholic institution, St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix issued a brief statement on December 15 defending an abortion that took place there. The abortion took place in late 2009 after a hospital ethics committee deemed the killing of the unborn child necessary to save the life of the mother.

“We believe that all life is sacred,” the hospital said in its statement. “In this case we saved the only life we could save, which was the mother’s.”

The alarmists just cannot help themselves, including over at Treehugger: Is Birth Control the Cheapest Answer to Climate Change?

From overpopulation as the elephant in the room, to the idea that less sex and more TV might be the answer to India's growing birth rate, overpopulation isn't exactly a taboo subject here on TreeHugger—but it doesn't get anywhere near the attention of, say, wind energy, electric cars, or the amazing biodiversity of compost. All that has to change, says Peter Preston over at The Guardian, if we are to have any hope of tackling the threat of climate change

A movie starring Anthony Hopkins explores exorcism. The man who wrote the book behind the film talks about what chasing the devil really entails.

Matt Baglio’s curiosity was piqued.

An exorcism course at a Vatican-affiliated university in Rome? It was an unusual topic. As an American journalist living in the Eternal City, he thought it might make for an interesting article; as a non-practicing Catholic at the time, he approached it with some skepticism.

We're all about the practical advice here at CMR. So here's the advice. In case of a nearby nuclear detonation:

Get Indoors And Stay There:

The advice is based on recent scientific analyses showing that a nuclear attack is much more survivable if you immediately shield yourself from the lethal radiation that follows a blast, a simple tactic seen as saving hundreds of thousands of lives. Even staying in a car, the studies show, would reduce casualties by more than 50 percent; hunkering down in a basement would be better by far.

But a problem for the Obama administration is how to spread the word without seeming alarmist about a subject that few politicians care to consider, let alone discuss. So officials are proceeding gingerly in a campaign to educate the public.

Liberalism was dead; as dead as a doornail. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate. The problem was, at least for the occupant of the Oval Office and some of his closest acquaintances, that they were the last to realize it; and in truth, were loath to admit it, even if they were to own up to the truth of it all.

There are certain questions now pressed upon us that previous generations would never believe could be asked. One of these is thrust upon us by events in New York City, where a well-known Ivy League professor has been arrested for the crime of incest. What makes the question urgent is not so much the arrest, but the controversy surrounding it.

One of the more interesting things about this story from the UK's Catholic Herald is the three youngest nuns in the community are doing this:

Three Anglican nuns at Walsingham have left their community after they expressed interest in joining a personal ordinariate.

The nuns from the Priory of Our Lady of Walsingham have began a period of private discernment after they decided that they wanted to join any future English ordinariate.

In a joint statement, the nuns explained their situation. They said: “On December 2 2010 Sister Wendy Renate, Sister Jane Louise and Sister Carolyne Joseph left the Priory of Our Lady in Walsingham for a period of discernment with the intention of joining the ordinariate when established. We ask prayers for ourselves and for the Sisters remaining at the Priory of Our Lady.”

John Hawkins thinks death panels will exist. Hahahahahahaha. What a fool, huh? Didn't he hear the libs say there were no death panels? What? Is he really going to believe Sarah Palin? Hahahahaha....oh wait....you mean it's all true?

When Sarah Palin correctly pointed out that Obamacare had built in death panels that would ultimately lead to needed medical treatments to seniors being cut to save money, the Left flipped out. They claimed that it was crazy to suggest that there was something like that in the bill and they assured everyone that they would never, ever, ever back something like that, and that they were offended that Palin even suggested it.

Of course, there was one problem with that assertion: Liberals have no qualms about lying to the American people. They do it all the time. That's how they deal with the fact that many of their views are unpopular: They just lie about what they want to do. It's such a common occurrence that liberals often just assume liberal politicians who say things that differ from the liberal line are lying. For example, do you ever wonder why liberals, for the most part at least, give Barack Obama a pass for being against gay marriage? There's a simple reason for it: They think he's lying.

Here is video from this morning of one of the Panama City, Florida School Board Hostages recounting his experience of facing a crazed gunman at their meeting yesterday, who opened fire on him at point-blank range. Miraculously, no one was shot by the man, who was then wounded by a security officer before taking his own life.

School Board Member Bill Husfelt describes the experience, and gives credit to God for saving his life – “I’m telling you: God blocked that bullet.”

Are school districts having a contest to see who can be nuttier? Gateway Pundit reports:

More liberal insanity…The Ashland School district decided that Christmas trees must also allow Muslim and Jewish symbols.The Daily Tidings reported, via FOX Nation:

Ashland public schools can display a decorated pine tree if it is surrounded by symbols from other religious holidays, but they should not display a Christmas tree alone, in order to remain religiously neutral, Superintendent Juli Di Chiro told the School Board Monday.

After Galileo Galilei was forced by the authoritarian establishment of his time to renounce his observation that the Earth revolves around the Sun, he's said to have said, "And yet it moves." The modern equivalent would be, "And yet homosexuality spreads AIDS."

The new archbishop of Brussels, Andre-Joseph Leonard, is being targeted by homosexualist groups, and has been condemned by the country's prime minister, after he said that AIDS is a consequence of risky sexual behavior, including homosexual sexual activity.

Via Greg Hengler, behold as the master of the weepy celebrity confessional interview, who’s been turning emotional problems into “news” for decades, suddenly discovers how off-putting tears can be. She’s right that there’s a different standard for crying when women politicians do it, but I’m not so sure that that difference benefits men. If Pelosi cried, she’d risk being branded as “soft” but she’d still be well within the bounds of acceptable female emotional display. Hillary’s tears just before the 2008 New Hampshire primary were a media sensation, but she suffered no real damage from it; on the contrary, some analysts speculated afterward that they helped her in the voting booth by humanizing her. When a male pol cries, he’s so far outside the paradigm of strong, stoic masculine leadership that not only does he come off as weak, he risks looking like a head case. (Muskie is, of course, the ultimate example.) No one here explicitly calls Boehner weak but Whoopi’s mockery makes her opinion of him clear enough, and of course Barbara’s got the “head case” narrative covered.

The clock tower at Southern Illinois University has played Christmas carols for nearly 15 years. But this year, someone complained, leading university officials to briefly silence the holiday tradition until they could add a more diverse selection of music.

"We got a complaint about not being inclusive in the music," university chancellor Rita Cheng told Fox News Radio.

Speaking at Monday's signing ceremony for the “Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act”-- a law that will subsidize and regulate what children eat before school, at lunch, after school, and during summer vacations in federally funded school-based feeding programs -- First Lady Michelle Obama said of deciding what American children should eat: “We can’t just leave it up to the parents."

RICHMOND – A federal judge in Virginia ruled Monday that a key provision of the nation’s sweeping health-care overhaul is unconstitutional, the most significant legal setback so far for President Obama’s signature domestic initiative.

At least that’s what we’re told by pro-abortionists in the popular media. Abortion, according to them should be safe, legal, and rare. But there is no evidence to support the theory that the pro-abortion left thinks abortions should be rare. Every time pro-lifers try to enact measures to help abortion become less common, or rare (to use their word,) the pro-aborts start screaming, twitching and protesting in matching “I had an abortion” tee-shirts.

What would I have done? Would I have had the courage to stand against the tyrannical King who ordered the slaughter of innocents? Would I have helped Mary and Joseph, or any other mother and child escape the murderous wrath of a jealous King? I’d like to think that the answer is yes.

While there are far less severe dangers today, Herod has been eclipsed by an army of bloody tyrants who walk the corridors of power today. The Democrat party gives hundreds of millions of dollars annually to groups such as Planned Parenthood, who in turn lavish millions of dollars on… Democrats running for office. Of course, the agreement is that the price of power is babies must die.

What? How can that be? Abortion is the safety net for IVF? It is according to one fertility doctor who admits that IVF doctors will implant more embryos than is recommended at the patient's request. And when too many implant, then the back-up plan is "fetal reduction." Fetal reduction is code for abortion where one or more of the multiples is aborted to make the pregnancy safer for mom and remaining siblings.

This has got to be one of the most emasculating moments in the history of the Presidency. Michelle Malkin has the story and the awwwwwwkward video:

President Obama met with Bill Clinton on Friday. Clinton agreed to publicly back Obama on the tax/unemployment extension agreement with Republicans. Obama then brought Slick out before a hastily assembled press corps, and then left Clinton alone with them to work his Bubba magic:

Great story but I've just got to know who took the time to take a picture when this little girl was stuck in the machine. There's a happy ending though so your Christmas spirit won't be rained on by checking it out:

Moon Run Fire Chief Paul Kashmer tells WPXI-TV that the girl didn’t seem upset by the ordeal Wednesday night in the food court at the Mall of Robinson, in Robinson Township. Kashmer says firefighters arrived to find “the cutest little girl in a pink outfit sucking her binky inside with the other toys.”

Sometimes I think most journalists are just living in a different world than most of us. The Daily Caller reports:

MSNBC commentator Richard Wolffe made fun of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for reading author C.S. Lewis for “divine inspiration,” despite the fact that the acclaimed British academic and creator of childrens’ books was also a noted writer of works on Christianity.

Appearing on MSNBC’s “Hardball” with Chris Matthews, Wolffe expressed incredulity, noting that Lewis wrote “a series of kids’ books.”

The Susan B. Anthony List issued the following press release, applauding the Senate for not voting for cloture on the Defense Authorization Bill:

Today, the Susan B. Anthony List condemned U.S. Senate leadership’s attempts to advance the Department of Defense Authorization Bill allowing elective abortions to be performed on taxpayer-funded domestic and international military bases. The Burris Amendment calls for elective abortions to be performed on military bases both at home and abroad using facilities, equipment and doctors paid for by American taxpayers.

Soon to be former congressman Steve Driehaus is suing the great SBA List for telling the truth. Carol McKinley pulls no punches in relating how she feels about this maneuver:

Driehaus filed a civil suit against Susan B. Anthony List claiming Obamacare doesn't fund abortions and he is being "deprived of his livelihood".

Oh come on. The reason why the Democrats wouldn't adopt Hyde Amendment language into Obamacare was because they know the funding for abortions is back-doored.

How would Democrats save the country without enticing poor women to kill their own child and providing funds to pay for it? The children of the poor drain their wallets. They don't want to feed them or educate them. They're living the dream, training women to be promiscuous and then shuffling them to abortion clinics.

The Green Bay Press Gazette reports: David Ricken, the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay, on Wednesday announced his official approval of the Marian apparitions at the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion.

Doug Ross takes you through how the spread of nuclear tech can be traced back to the Clinton administration. This is truly disturbing:

This is one of Iran's medium-range missiles, which it is placing on Venezuelan soil according to a November 25, 2010 report in Die Welt.

The same report asserts that Venezuela will permit Iran to open a military facility staffed with Iranian missile officers and soldiers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Medium-range missiles launched from this base could reach cities in the United States; a likely first-strike scenario involves the detonation of EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse) weapons over the continental U.S.

Seriously. I'm not kidding. A high school in Houston has gotten rid of all their books. Pundette has the stupidest story since...maybe Midnight basketball!

This isn't from the Onion, but it's so rife with unbelievable, parodic elements that I'm having trouble believing it. Here goes: The principal of an urban Houston high school, James McSwain, has tossed the books from the school library and converted the space to a coffee shop. No, not a library with a coffee shop added on; just a coffee shop:

Big Hollywood is asking a sadly pertinent question. Are the Narnia movies Christian?:

‘Narnia’ Producer: ‘Whether These Books are Christian, I Don’t Know.'

Wow. Paul Bond in today’s Hollywood Reporter:

Liam Neeson, who voices Aslan, the resurrected lion in the upcoming film. The actor told the Telegraph in London that his character doesn’t necessarily represent Christ. That might be news to Lewis, though, who wrote the opposite before he died in 1963.

Catholic Key quotes Orrin Hatch and gives his own thoughts on the morality of the the DREAM Act.

Can you guess who made this straightforward and impassioned plea for the DREAM Act?

I rise today to introduce legislation that will help make the American dream a reality for many young people. ``The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act ,'' or ``The DREAM Act ,'' resolves immigration status problems that plague undocumented immigrants who came to our country as youths. It also removes barriers to education so that they are better equipped to succeed in our society.

We don't do a lot of economic posts here mainly because I'm an idiot but this story from Flopping Aces explains clearly why the EPA and the Obama administration may be harming this economy in a grievous way.

Gas prices are approaching $3 per gallon and may go considerably higher. $100 a barrel oil is seen as likely. Obama has choked off some oil production in the Gulf and made us more dependent on foreign oil. The economy is in tatters. Unemployment is at 9.8%. Barack Obama has brought this country to its knees.Now comes the knockout punch.

On April 19 EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson ruled that carbon dioxide, a gas vital to the growth of green plants, is a pollutant. The ruling gave the White House an almost unlimited control of the country and its energy.

A small Pennsylvania town has removed a Nativity scene from its borough building after a resident complained that the creche is offensive to non-Christians. And while town leaders say they don’t like having to remove it, they say they are legally obligated.

WPXI in Pittsburgh reports Canonsburg Borough and its Manager Terry Hazlett received a written complaint last week from resident Megan Hartley who said the creche was disrespectful to citizens who aren‘t Christian and that it shouldn’t be displayed at a government building

Wow. I've only seen a portion of this performance but judging from reports Obama is what he might call "wee-wee'd up," declaring a pox on the houses of both the left and the right. I've been wondering whether yesterday's preliminary deal will turn out to be a net gain or a net loss for him. Though his progressive base hates it, extending the Bush tax cuts will be popular with independents. Time will tell.

But judging from his combative, complaining demeanor it seems that he, at least, sees it as a defeat. And he is not taking it gracefully. Within thirty seconds of opening his mouth he accused his opponents of "scoring political points" at the expense of what's good for the American people. Anyone who may have started to entertain the wild notion that Obama can change course a la Bill Clinton can forget it.

New Hampshire: Teacher Assigns Students to Read Book That Describes Jesus as a “Wine-Guzzling Vagrant and Precocious Socialist”… Shockingly, People Have a Problem With This. But it’s OK to offend Christians, everyone knows that…

I feel bad for the people who live there but the AGW crowd is simply using these people to further their own goals. Right Wing News goes through the story fact by fact:

Unshockingly, this breathless report comes from a reporter in.......exotic Cancun, Mexico, rather than from the Marshall Islands

CANCUN, Mexico Encroaching seas in the far Pacific are raising the salt level in the wells of the Marshall Islands. Waves threaten to cut one sliver of an island in two. "It's getting worse," says Kaminaga Kaminaga, the tiny nation's climate change coordinator.

Two things to pre-notice: if all the glaciers and ice are melting, and they are composed primarily of fresh water, wouldn't that mean the seas are getting less salty? Second, remember that thing about waves.

Why should Americans love their country? Here are a dozen good reasons to be grateful and proud to live here.

1. The United States was the first nation in history created out of the belief that people should govern themselves. As James Madison said, this country’s birth was “a revolution which has no parallel in the annals of human society.” The U.S. constitution is the oldest written national constitution in operation. It has been a model for country after country as democracy has spread across the continents.

A heartbreaking story about the murder of Catholics in Iraq and the brave death of two priests. Vive Christus Rex has the story.

With so much of the media running every horrible story they can dig up about any former priest these days, here is a story that you will not see in the mainstream media. It is an eyewitness account of the al Qaeda massacre at Our Lady of Salvation Catholic Church in Baghdad on October 31st, and how their priest carried themselves in their final moments. These priest were only 32 and 27 years old:

What's wrong with this world. I know evil has always existed but the codification of evil is a bit more disturbing. Wesley Smith has the story:

Belgium’s euthanasia law permits people to be killed by doctors because they are disabled. In such a discriminatory setting, is it any wonder that a Belgian court has now approved the odious notion of a wrongful life.

It’s here. Christmas, that wonderful time of year when toy manufacturers find out just how well their advertising dollars were spent, and parents have a chance to put their money where their hearts are.

While the Left complains about our consumer-oriented society, and looks for books to indoctrinate their three-year olds, I have a better idea.

How about buying toys that enrich children’s lives? It can be done. Not only can it be done, but in doing so, I can almost guarantee these items will be around, and still loved by next Christmas.

Over the course of raising three boys and six girls, I have developed a toy philosophy. A philosophy that has kept me from drowning in a sea of plastic with “made in China” stamped on its crest, and has given my children years of memories and are now serving a second generation.

Warning: The following advice, and recommendations contained therein, are politically incorrect—and may be a choking hazard for progressive parents of all ages.

Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips has written a letter urging Sarah Palin to consider running for the RNC chair, saying that the GOP “need[s] someone who will put conservatives in control of the party apparatus, not RINOs.”

According to the FBI the newest Barbie doll, one of the hottest gifts this Christmas, is in actuality the perfect gift for pedophiles. An alert sent out this past week warned that the new Barbie Video Girl, which features a camera and an LCD screen, could be used to create child pornography.

Liam Neeson is a fine actor (I like the underrated “Taken”) but he is a lousy theologian. Neeson is the voice of Aslan in the Narnia fillms. “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” launches next week. But now Neeson has angered many Christian fans of the books and films by declaring his Aslan to be way more ecumenical than C.S. Lewis ever intended.

Chicago Cubs player and radio color man Ron Santo died yesterday at the age of 70. His love for the Cubs, baseball, and life was infectious and made him, without exaggeration, the best-loved man in Chicago. He will be sorely missed.

Ron brought great pleasure not only to those who watched him play baseball in the sixties and seventies but also to fans who listened to his WGN broadcasts with play-by-play partner Pat Hughes. The contrast between the two men's styles and their obvious liking and respect for each other made "The Pat and Ron Show" a huge hit.

A Christmas tree in Ames High School’s cafeteria was taken down just two days after it was donated to the school for its winter dance. School officials say they removed the decoration after several phone calls stating it was “offensive.”

Ames school district officials call it a “winter tree,” but students say the tree was clearly a Christmas tree. Both described it as a pine tree decorated with cardinal and gold lights and ornaments.

With United Nations climate negotiators facing an uphill battle to advance their goal of reducing emissions linked to global warming, it's no surprise that the woman steering the talks appealed to a Mayan goddess Monday.

This incredible video smuggled out of North Korea (DPRK…the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) shows starvation and resistance to the same old-same old submission to the regime.

This poor woman is so hungry she says she eats nothing, but gathers grass to sell to her fellow North Koreans. Emaciated, she tells the undercover reporter that she sleeps outside (it’s FREEZING in North Korea right now) and that at 23 her parents are both dead.

Marcel from Mary's Aggies wrote a beautiful tribute to his sister. After reading it, I'm sure the world will miss her:

**Have you ever felt that God just wasn't interested in your problems?**Have you ever felt God was distant and unaccessible?**Have you ever thought maybe God is just a myth, because He just doesn't seem to care?

I have.

I am sure that somewhere in the world right now, there are people that:feel alone are scared, are unsure of God's existence and love for them, can't figure out what God's plan is for them, and doubt He even has one, hurt.

Are you one of them? You are not alone. Others have felt the same way. I know I have and I know my sister, Simone, did while she suffered through horrible cancer for five years

About 2 a.m. this morning someone(s) threw several bricks through the front window the Chicago north side home of pro-life luminaries Joe and Ann Scheidler, president and VP of the Pro-Life Action League.

One of the bricks had a weird, expletive-ridden note wrapped around it, which you can read on page 2. The vandal(s) were clearly pro-aborts. The one writing the note was apparently post-abortive.

I was on the fence over reading this one by Jonothan Franzen. I really enjoy good writing but it needs something more - a little hope or transcendence. It's like when I read "The Time Traveler's Wife" and while I enjoyed some of the writing and insights, in the end I was disappointed in that there was no meaning to anything. There was living and there was dying and no...purpose or meaning to it. Amy Welborn read "Freedom" and she writes:

In which I offer my .02 on Franzen’s novel and welcome your views and a discussion!

I read The Corrections, reviewed it, liked parts of it, was ultimately dissatisfied and did not yearn for more, more more Franzen. What I do remember is one particular passage which I have quoted and thought about frequently, not least during dinnertime battles:

I-Spy: Who’s spying on your Internet Activities? I talk with Jim Meigs of Popular Mechanics, who explains the creepy side of the information age. Corporations compile information on you. Can this information be used for nefarious purposes? What happens if a stalker gets a hold of your information?

Our friend Tito has a new website dedicated to collecting links to the best in Catholic Punditry for the day so you don't have to. I question his judgment due to the curious lack of links to CMR, but there is some other really great stuff up there.

For some reason I find these very moving. The Anchoress has the great video:

The singers are terrific, the scene not so overpacked, and one gets to really see something of the responses in the crowds; still too many people videotaping rather than experiencing the moment fully within themselves for me, but the fellow at 3:23 struck me by his stillness. He was not videotaping or looking around. He was just listening, really taking it in, and you can see it on him. You can see it in his stillness.